King Country Chronicle Saturday, Sept. 30, 1911. MILITARY TRAINING.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 400, 30 September 1911, Page 4

King Country Chronicle Saturday, Sept. 30, 1911. MILITARY TRAINING.

I o ! A correspondent raises a very in--1 (creating question in a letter we pub- : lish in the present. ipsue. If the | State demands nilHCary service from | the whole of its physically lit sons, should it not, in return, guav,'intee them a living on the land? That, briefly put. is our correspondent's ! contention. We would remind her | that the State, so far as Now Zealand j Is concerned, is doinjr more in (he | direction of helping its own peopli J j than any other civilised nation. J ! From the moment of birth, under the j j National Provident Fund, medical ex- j pensea are paid to each worker participating in the scheme. Primary and higher free education at schools and colleges follow, along wilb (be admir- | able physical drill in the cadet corps. \ | When he reaches manhood, (be town, artisan is protected by a multitude of industrial laws, and the would-be land seeker is offered a (airly wido i choice of opportunities combined with special legislation giving (be farmer many exclusive facilities, such as preferential rates on the railway* for fruit and similar products, grading 1 stations, experimental farms, ami j other facilities. In his old e.g.. 5 the | State pensions the worker and pro- I tcct-s his family under (he "Family j Homes" Act. For these and many ! other reasons it behoves our young men to cheerfully acquiesce in the moderate and rational military training demanded of them. Those senators in Chrislchureh who look upon every country but, (heir own as right will have to fall into lire !jk« t'.jn rest of us, or be fired out, II is the ; only way. Military training in Now Zealand means the physical, mental. | , and moral good of a large number oi j .*

youths, especially in the large centres, who would otherwise loaf at street corners learning by painful experience that idle hands have mischief found for them still to do. We cannot understand the objections that have been raised to the modest training scheme now in existence in New Zealand. If protection is demanded from the State, surely the State is entitled to demand a reasonable return of Bervicu? We want no war or warlike spirit. But we must be prepared, for the mere possibility of such an event. Forearmed is forewarned, to reverße (he saying, and in that attitude and spirit will be found New Zealand's best hope of defence.